So essentially, the detectorists will decide for all of us what's important enough to be recorded. That's okay for last week's lost engagement ring from the local jeweler's and misplace American quarters. Not so useful for the items that actually have interest and value as pieces of history..
I am curious - if there are any detectorists on this list - what would make a detectorist "not able to record with the Portable Antiquities Scheme "? Is the PAS only alowed to converse in Ancient Aramaic or are they closed on normal business days?
(And why on earth would you create a database that is incompatible with another, pre-existing database? Don't you think people who want to access both will get kinda frustrated? And then they might - noticing the relative dates of inception, blame you for the incompatibility? )
This all seems like an unecessary exercise, frankly. Who will use the database? Will it record the things that people need to know (like stratigraphy, and context, and related finds?) or will it just be a hodge podge of stuff in general>
Inquiring minds want to know.
Morgan Smith